Even after his first win of the season, Fabio Quartararo does not comment on his future – Behind the scenes Yamaha talks to Miguel Oliveira’s manager
MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo is the kingpin in the transfer carousel. Once the Frenchman has made up his mind, all the other pieces of the puzzle could fall into place relatively quickly for next year. In Portimao, Quartararo celebrated his first victory of the season. Was that the course set for him to stay with Yamaha?
Is it now primarily about a pay rise? “I’m not going to talk about my future,” Quartararo holds firm at the start of the race weekend in Jerez. “For this year I have a goal. I want to fight for the world championship title. I have nothing to say about my future.”
“I have people around me to take care of it,” he addresses his manager Eric Mahe. The latter already admitted a few weeks ago that there are also talks with other brands. Mahe did not want to mention concrete names.
Obviously there will be no quick decision either. that the decisions for 2023 will not be made until the end of June.
This is interesting because by then World Superbike Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu will have had his first MotoGP test with Yamaha at MotorLand Aragon. Where could Quartararo switch to? Mahe is said to have spoken to Ducati, Suzuki and Honda.
But at Ducati, it looks like either Enea Bastianini or Jorge Martin will take Jack Miller’s place in the factory team. Suzuki wants to continue with Joan Mir and Alex Rins. In the Honda factory team it is open whether the contract with Pol Espargaro will be extended.
Interestingly, Honda team boss Alberto Puig told ‘DAZN Spain’ that the decision regarding Espargaro “won’t happen before June”. So he mentions roughly the same time frame as Jarvis.
Whether Honda can afford and wants a second highly paid rider next to Marc Marquez? As far as Yamaha is concerned, however, other possibilities are brewing in the background. According to the Spanish ‘Marca’, Paulo Oliveira has already spoken to Yamaha.
Asked about this in Jerez, Miguel Oliveira replies: “My situation is that my KTM contract expires at the end of the year. We have from May to June to negotiate with them.” He also explicitly stresses a deadline “between May and June”.
“I see my future very well and I am calm. My father is taking care of all this so I can have peace and give my maximum on the bike. I’m not worried because I know I will be in the MotoGP field in the future,” insists Oliveira.